Paper hanger s folding table



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1" H. W. ALLEN.

PAPER HANGERS FOLDING TABLE. No. 411,366. Patented Sept. 17, 1889'.

/ M mmww (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. H. W. ALLEN.

' PAPER HANGERS FOLDING TABLE.

No. 411,366. Patented Sept. 17, 1889.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY IV. ALLEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONEIIALF TO ROBERT S. HOBBS, OF SAME PLACE.

PAPER-HANG ERS FO LDING TABLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 411,366, dated September 1'7, 1889.

Application filed May '7, 1889. Serial No. 309,861. (No model.)

To (all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY WV. ALLEN, of Chicago, in the State of Illinois, have in vented certain new and useful Improvements in Paper-Hangers Folding Tables, of which the f ollowing is a specification.

My in vention relates to paper-h angers folding tables provided with folding sections and folding legs and braces adapted to be inclosed between the sections when shut up; and the objects of my improvements are to simplify the construction and arrangement of the parts of such. tables, and thereby provide room between the folding sections, when shut up, for inclosin g a straight-edge or other small article, as well as the legs and braces, and also provide means independent of the legs and their braces for stiffening the joint between the folding sections when open for use and for affording a rest or place for the straight-edge when not in use, the whole producing a sufficiently strong but light article, convenient to carry about and easy to set up and take down. These objects I have attained in the table constructed as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved folding table shut up. Fig. 2 is a bottom View, the folding sections being open, but the legs and their braces folded in. Fig. 3 is a top view showing the table set up for use. Fig. at is a side elevation of the table set up for use. Fig. 5 is a vertical cross-section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 3,looking toward the right.

I11 the drawings, A A designate longitudinally-folding sections of the table. Each of these sections is provided 011 the under side with a downWardly-proj ectin g portion or strip a all around the edges. Said sections are hinged together by hinges a on the under side, secured to the strips a, and when shut up said strips meet, so as to form a hollowinclosure between them. and the sections.

B B designate the folding legs. At the upper ends these legs are firmly secured to crosspieces 13, which cross-pieces are hinged or pivoted to the folding sections by means of pins or rivets I), which. pivotally secure the ends of plates 7), said. plates being respectively secured to the ends of said crosspieces and to the adjacent sides of said projecting strips a, so as to form a hinge. Said legs and cross-pieces are thin enough to lie,wh en folded, alongside of said strips andnotextend beyond the thickness thereof; but said crosspieces should be wider than they are thick, for the purpose of allowing the legs to be firmly attached, to give them lateral strength.

Jointed braces C are provided, of plate or strap metal. One end of each of these braces is attached pivotally to the folding sections, as at c, on the inside of the strip a, and the other end is pivoted to the legs, as at c. The brace-joint c is formed by pivoting the lapped ends of the plate together, as at 0 so that a sliding sleeve 0 maybe slipped over the lapped ends alongside of the pivot to make the joint stiff for holding the legs extended. I also provide cross-tie pieces D, of plate or strap metal, and pivot them at one end to one of the legs, the other end having a slot adapted to engage a screw or nail (Z, not driven quite in to the head on the opposite leg. These cross-ties, when the legs are folded, are secured by a screw or nail d at the top of the leg to which they are pivoted to prevent displacement when the sections are closed.

Two or more mortises or openings E are made through the strips to flush or even with the under side of the central portion of the folding sections, through which openings slats E are run, for the purpose of stiffening the joint where the folding sections are hinged together when unfolded. These slats are eX- tended beyond the width of the sections, for the purpose of providing a rest or convenient place for the straight-edge F at the side of the attached to cross-strips 011 the under side of the sections and to the connecting-piece of the legs, a detachable strip being provided to close the opening along one edge of the sections when folded, as shown in Patent No. 348,733, of September 7, 1886, to Geseen and Tyler, and also with longitudinally-folding sections with detachable cross-legs placed transversely of the table-sections and held together by a shouldered tie-rod with a thumbnut at each end, there being a rod run through a hole transversely of the sections, said rod having a head on one end and a screW-nut on the other to prevent the sections from folding when erected for use, as shown in Patent No. 316,142, of April 21, 1885, to Gordon; but my invention does not include the table organized and constructed like any of these.

What I claim is- In a paper-hangers folding table and in combination, the longitudinally-folding sec tions A A, provided with downwardly-projecting strips to at their edges and having inortises E,-the folding legs B, hinged to the folding sections at each end, so as to fold between the strips a, ihe braces 0, each having-a joint 0 formed, as shown and described, with a sliding sleeve 0 such braces being pivoted at one end to the strips a on the inside and at the other end to the folding legs, the crosspieces D, of strap metal, constructed as shown and secured to the legs in the manner described, and the slats E, adapted to be run through the mortises E, so as to project at either side of the table and form a rest for the straight-edge, as specified.

HARRY WV. ALLEN. Witnesses:

J. W. MERRIAM, ROBERT F. HoBBs. 

